Two Lost Souls

Untouchable

This is nothing new to me

It takes more than what you got

To frighten me

I'm not scared of you

There's nothing you can do

Or take from me

Untouchable

You think you're untouchable

You know

No one's untouchable

The first thing that registers when she regains consciousness is the familiar pain in her wrists and ankles. Vervain ropes. No surprise there. The second thing she notices is the noise. She must be in a room full of people, for she can hear their chatter and laughter around her. Most of them vampires, no doubt. Probably a few compelled or willing humans, which is always good to know since once she manages to get free, she'll need to feed to regain her strength. After a broken neck, vervain ropes, and the torture that is no doubt coming her way, she will be too weak to make it out of this place if she doesn't get some blood in her system.

But first things first. Taking in a deep breath to brace herself for what's to come, she opens her eyes, knowing that the interrogation will begin as soon as someone notices that she's awake.

"Welcome back," a voice she's learned to recognize over the past few weeks says on her right, and she turns her head in its direction, silently appraising Marcel.

He's leaning casually against the railing of what seems to be some sort of balcony, and when she looks past him, she sees the party downstairs. Bringing her attention back to her immediate surroundings, she notes that there are about a dozen vampires around her, all watching her with interest, all wearing daylights rings. Marcel's inner circle. She bites back a smirk. Though she still doesn't know what it is he wants with her, this is going exactly as planned so far. His childish penchant for showmanship is going to save her life. Had he killed her as soon as he caught her, her plan would have fallen apart. But she didn't doubt for a second that he would want to make an example out of her. It's like the villains don't learn anything from watching movies. Don't they know by now that their monologues and their need to crush their enemies publicly are what always gives the hero the time he needs to make his escape?

"Marcel," she acknowledges with a small nod. "I'd say it's nice to see you, but my mother taught me not to lie."

His laughter is loud and exaggerated and she almost rolls her eyes at him.

"I can see why Klaus likes you."

This is a bit touchy. She doesn't want to confirm it in case he gets it in his thick head to use her against the original hybrid – at least not until her plan has worked – but denying it too vehemently might also cause some problems. She's been living with the originals for almost a month now and everyone knows that she's with Klaus. Though her, Klaus and his siblings all know that it's all about sex, everybody else – including Marcel – must think that there is something there. If she lets him know that it's not the case, he might start asking dangerous questions, which might in turn lead to him finding out about Klaus's humanity switch, something the originals – and therefore her, because let's face it, she'd rather have Marcel as an enemy than them – want to avoid.

And so she just shrugs, wincing a little when the ropes tying her to the chair dig deeper into her flesh with the motion.

"Sorry about that," Marcel says. "Had to make sure I had your attention."

"You could have bought me flowers."

He laughs again, and she really just wants him to get on with it so that she can go home and take a long, soothing bath. Nothing like bubbles to get over the lingering pain of vervain induced scrapes.